Artificial bait



Sept. 10, 1929.

J. E. PFLUEGER ARTIFICIAL BAIT Filed Jan. 25, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 gwuemtoz Sept. 10, 1929. PFLUEGER 1,727,936

ARTIFICIAL BAIT Filed Jan. 26, 1923 5 Sh eetsSheet 2 20 e 4 e. 0 w 17 Z51$WCM,NWCL+WW Z.

P 1929- J. E. PFLUEGER 1,727,936

ARTIFICIAL BAIT Filed Jan. 26, 1925 :s Sheets-Sheet s 6cm wear-v FatentedSept. 10, 1929.

UNITED STATES PILUEQEK OF AKRON, OHIO,

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PA ENT omen.

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anrn'rcm Barr,

Application fled January so, 192:. serial Io. 015,041.

. This invention relates to improvementsin artificial fish baits, such as shown by Comstock, 271,424, Jan. 30, 1883.

The Ob ects of this invention are to 20- vide improved means for attachment of e,

hook, bait and sinker to an artificial mmnow body or the like; more particularl to provide an artificial minnow .bait wit a shaft adapted for adjustable movement therethrough, said arrangement providing means for ready attachment of a hook, line, sinker and bait i eluding frog, pork rind, minnow or fish et. a

It is a further 0 ject of this invention to provide means fomholding the hook m fixedosition with respect tothe bait body and urthermore to provide means for preventing relative rotary movement between the shaft and minnow body, so as to mamta n the hook in proper upright position. A still further objectl 15 to provide means for luniting thesw'inging movement of the hook at the rear end so as to prevent tanglmg of the same with the line. 7

Another object of this invention is to provide. lure arms which extend substantlally horizontally; to provide adjustable and automatically reversible lures for co-operation ,with the hook; to provide means for limltso ing the swinging movements of the lure arms; and furthermore to arrange lure arms on opposite sides of an art1fic1al minnow body m such manner that they will swing onl in a horizontal lane.

urther objects 0 the invention will be ap arentfrom the following description the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a plan view of my improved artifiso cial minnow bait; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section; Fi 3 is a side elevation; Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section; Fig. 5 illustrates the means of applying pork rind bait or other suitable baiting material; Fig. 6 45 is a detail view of an attaching eye for the pork rind bait or other baiting material; Fig. 7 shows a pork rind bait or other baiting material in plan; Fig. 8 illustrates a modified form of invention with a spring I for normally maintaining the adjustable 6 has its eye 7 mounted u n the shaft 8 claims when considered together with shaft in position; Fig. 9 is a side elevation of a slightl modified bait, the rear end ortion of t e bait body being in section;

1g. 10 is a plan view of a further modification; Fig. 11 is a side elevation of the same' Fig. 12 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the same; Fi 13 is a front end view of the same; and Big. 14 is a rear end elevation of the bait body shown in The artificial bait body 2 is here illustrated as representing a minnow, although the artificlal bait may be made in any other suitable form. Extending lengthwise and 'substantially centrally through the artificial minnow body is an opening through which extends an ad ustable shaft 3 of suitable resilient mater al, as for instance, wire. The shaft 3 has its forward end bent back upon itself to form a looped ortion 4, while its extreme end portion 5 is ormed as a hook to engage about the main bed of the wire at a int near the end of the ait body 2. The sinker preferably between the hoo 5 and the end of the bait body, although it may be mounted on'the loop 4, as shown in Fig. 4. The bait. I body may be made of wood or other suitable material. The other end of the shaft 3 is bent back ,upon itself to form a looped portion 9, the end of the shaft bein inted as shown at 10. The'rear end 0? t e bait body is formed with a cavity 11 which can be suitabl lined with wear resisting matenal if ound necessary, and this cavity terminates in the restricted cavity or slot 12 which is adapted to receive the end portion of the shaft and to prevent relative rotatable movement of the same with respect to the bait body. The book 13 can be placed in the position shown in Fig. 3 or in inverted position, as may be desired. Hook 13 has at all tunes a certain degree of movement with respect to the shaft, but it is limited in such movement by striking against the rear edg: of the cavity. Thus the danger of the hoo 13 becoming entangled in the line or other parts is The looped rtion 9 is adapted to receive the eye 0 hook 13which can be concealed by the well known buck tail ,bair, feathers or other material 14 suitably secured to the shank of the hook. In order to attach the hook 13, the shaft 3 is moved to the position illustrated in Fig. 4 after releasing the hook portion 5 therefrom, the shaft 3 being sufliciently resilient to permit adjustment of the forward front end of the shaft to the position illustrated in Fig. 1. The pointed end 10 of the shaft is then'in position to receive the eye of the hook 13 and upon drawing the shaft forwardly through the minnow body the rear end portion of the shaft will pass into the slot 12 and the hook portion 5 can be engaged with the shaft 3 either with or without the sinker,

as may be desired.

Instead of using buck tail hair or feathers 14, a plain hook, fly hook or any other suitable form may be used, my arrangement permitting ready exchange of hooks. When usin the form of pork rind bait as illustrated in Fig. 7,- an eye 15 of wire or like material is inserted in the hole 15 and is placed over the pointed end 10 of the shaft 3 so as to rovide a loose connection. The slit 16 is t en placed down over the end of hook 13. Then upon drawing the shaft 3 through the bait body in the manner above described, the hook together with the pork rind or other baiting material will be maintained in proper posltion, the pork rind or other baiting material extending throu h a substantially horizontal plane except or the wiggling action to which it ma be subjected as the bait is drawn throng the water.

If so desired, the rear end of the minnow body may be provided with a horizontally disposed slot 17 and a vertically disposed slot '18, the latter to receive the fish hook eye and the former .to ermit entrance of the .shaft loop to the bait body. In the embodiment illustrated in Fi s. 9 and 14, the cavity 11 of the .fish bait ody has mounted therein a metal thimble 17 provided at its rear end with the slots 17 and 18, said slots lying within the slots 11, as indicated in Fig. 9. The vertically disposed slot 18 permits entrance of the shaft loop 9 into the cavity 11 while the slot 17 receives the eye of the fish hook and thereby prevents rotary movement of the hook with respect to the bait body and limits to an almost negligible degree the amount of rotary movement of the shaft 3 with respect to the bait body. In this way the hook is maintained in proper position with respect to the bait body. The bait body may be made off-center so as to point upwardly as it is drawn through the water, or any other suitable balancing means ma be u such as a wei ht 0r weights embedded in the bait b0 y as indicated at 19. The weight or weights .are positioned at the proper point to obtain the angle of balance desired for the bait body.

Another hook 20 may be swivelled to the underside of the bait body, as illustrated in Fig. 8, it being understood that a single double or-other form of book may be used at this point as well as at the rear of the bait body. The stop 20 prevents hook 20 from swinging forward andbecoming tangled with the line. The line is adapted to be attached'to the looped portion 4.

f The bait body is provided with longitudinall disposed slots 21 in which are mounted t e lure arms, each comprising a rod 22 having an eye 23 through which extend the screws 24 secured in the bait body. The outer end of each of the rods 22 is provided with a swivel connection 25 for the spinher 26. The lure arms are adapted to swing freely upon the screws 24: so as to automatically extend diagonally rearward or forward according to whether the bait is being trolled or is being drawn in the other direction by the fish. The rods 22 may be somewhat resilient so as to yield to the force of the weeds or may be made sub stantially rigid. The inserts 7 limit the swinging movement of the lure members, and when a fish is running with the bait, the motion of the bait body through the water will cause the lure' arms to automatically reverse so as to occupy the dotted line position indicated in Fig. 2. The spin tion which is calculated to increase the luring effect. The lure arms may be made of any length desired, so that the spoons or spinners may or ma not overlie the point of the hook 13.

Referring again to the modification in Fig. 8, the structure is the same as that heretofore described except that the forward end of the shaft 3 is provided merely with the looped portion 4 and a coil spring 27 surrounds the shaft 3 between the loop 4 and the front end of the bait body so as to normally maintain the shaft 3 in the position indicated in Fig. 8. The shaft can, however, be withdrawn through the bait body so as to apply and remove the hook and bait to the rear end thereof; and upon release of the rod it will be returned to the position illustrated in .Fig. 8 by force of the spring 27 and maintained in such posi either integrally or separately. Here they are shown as formed integrall the strip of metal tapering from its mid le to its end portions and having its end portions curved sli htly u wardl as indicated in Fi s. 11 an 13. hese ure arms are suitab y secured b thescrews 31 in the slit rovided in the ead portion of the bait ody as clearl illustrated in the drawings. The swive 32 which 'ca pivotally mounted on t e ends of lure arms 29 and 30 so as'to swing about substantially vertical axes, as shown in the drawingsthereby permitting a wiggling motion of the spoons as the bait is drawn through the water. The rest of the bait structure in this modifiedform is the same as in the other forms already referred to, and further description of these details is therefore unnecessary. I

What I claim is v 1. A device of the character described, comprising abod having an opening, a shaft iongitudina 1y adjustable in said the spoons 33 are opening and provided with an attachment receiving. portion, one end portion of said opening being enlarged to completely receive said attachment receiving portion when said shaft is in a certain position of longitudinal adjustment in said opening, and means for maintaining said shaft in said opening in such osition of adjustment.

2. A device 0 the character described, com rising a body having an open1ng, and a s aft longitudinally adjustable in said opening and provided with a loop portion for receiving an attachment, one end of said opening being enlarged to completely receive said loop portion when said shaft 15 in a certain position of longitudinal adjustment in said opening, said shaft bein provided with means for maintaining sai shaft in saidropening in such position of adjustment.

3. A device of the character described, comprisin a body rovided with a main opening until one of t is end portions of said ogenin enlarged and a shaft longitudinally justa 1c in sai opening and provided at one end with an attachment receiving loop and a free return end portion, said attachment receiving loop being adapted to lie completel withinsaid enlarged opening portion w en said shaft is in. a certain position of longitudinal adjustment in said opening, said body being also provided with 'an additional opening for receiving said shaft return portion when said shaft is in such certain position of adjustment, whereb relative rotary movement between said sli aft and said body is prevented, said shaft being rovided with means for maintaining said s aft in such osition of adjustment.

4. A device of the character described, comprising a body provided with a transcured to the outer ends of said lure arms and movable relative thereto.

5. A device of the character described, comprising a body provided with a transverse slot, and a one piece sheet metal strip having its middle portion secured in said slot and its end portions projecting from said body to form lure arms, said projecting ortions being curved slightly upwardly and, eing rearwardly dis osed, the upward curvature and rearward isposition of said projectin portions have a guiding effect upon sai body'in water.

6. device. of the character described, comprising a body rovided with a main opening with one of t 'e end ortions of said opening enlarged, and a sha t longitudinal ly adjustable in said opening and provided with an attachment receiving portion and an arm rtion, said attachment receiving portion eing adapted to lie completel within {said enlarged opemng portion w en said shaft is in a certain position of longitudinal adjustment in said opening, said body being also provided with an additional opening for receiving said shaft arm portion when said shaft 1s in such certain position of adjustment, whereby relative rotary movement between said shaft and said body is prevented, and means for maintaining said shaft in such position of adjustment.

7. A device of t 0 character described, comprisin a body structure havin an opening, a sha t longitudinally adjusta 1e in said opening and provided with a loop to receive the eye of a hook, said body structure bein provided at one end of said opening wit a pair of slots intersecting at right angles, one of said slots being adapted to permit said shaft loop to be passed therethrough to enable said shaft to be longitudinally adjusted to a certain position in said body structure opening, the other of said slots being adapted to receive the eye of the hook when said shaft is in such position of adjustment and thus serving to prevent rotary movement of said hook with respect to the bod structure and to limit to an almost neg igible degree rotary movement of said shaft with respect to said body structure, said shaft being provided with means for maintaining it in said opening in such position of adjustment. v

8. A device of the character described, comprising a body structure having an opening,- a sha t longitudinally adjusta 1c in said opening and rovided with\a loop to receive the eye of a 00k, said body structure being provided at one end of said opening with a pair of slots, one of said slots being adapted to permit said shaft loop to be passed therethrough to enable said shaft to be 1ongitudinally adjusted to a certain position in said body structure opening, 7 the other of said slots being adapted to receive the eye of thevhook when sald shaft is in such position of adjustment, and thus serving to prevent rotary movement of said hook with respect to the body structure and to limit to an almost negligible degreerotary movement of said shaft "with respect to said body structure, and means for maintaining it in said opening in such position of adjustment.

In testimony whereof I hereby afiix my signature.

JOSEPH E. PFLUEGER. 

